Nigeria’s voting population has reached 103 million following the completion of the three-phase Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise and final biometric cleanup conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, disclosed this at a World Press Conference and National Stakeholders Meeting held by the commission at the Bola Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja on Tuesday.
Amupitan said the three phases of the CVR exercise recorded 10,772,421 new registrations following the conclusion of the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) exercise.
According to electoral chief, Lagos, Kano and Kaduna states occupy the first three positions in terms the highest number of registered voters.
“The national register of the voter now stands at 103 million making Nigeria the largest democracy in Africa. The top 10 states by number of registered voters are Lagos State first position with 7,488,633 registered voters, followed by Kano State with 6,570,276. Next is Kaduna State with 4,662,640 voters,” Amupitan said.
Others on the top 10 list are Katsina State with 3,876,051 registered voters; Rivers State, 3,736,434; Oyo State, 3,588,111; Delta State, 3,525,988; Benue State, 3,057,225; Ogun State, 3,037,981; and Bauchi State, 3,012,547.
Amupitan added, “At the end of the table is Ekiti State with registered voters of 1,055,708, followed by Bayelsa State with 1,200,691 registered voters. The FCT ranks next from the bottom with 1,772,043 voters followed by Yobe State with 1,733,641, and Gombe with 1,768,566.”
The INEC chairman also stated that male voters account for 53,528,218 (51.75%) of the register, while female voters number 49,900,497 (48.25%).
On age profile, voters’ register is dominated by voters aged 35 to 49, who account for 41.83% of the total register (43,265,946 voters).
This is followed by 29,777,576 voters aged 18 to 34, representing 28.79%, and 22,982,900 voters aged 50 to 69, accounting for 22.22%, while those aged 70 years and above are the smallest age group, with 7,402,291 voters, representing 7.16%.
Amupitan noted that the register recorded 232,658 persons with disabilities spread across 10 disability categories, representing roughly 0.23 per cent of the total 103.4 million registered voters.
In compliance with Section 19(1) of the Electoral Act 2026, the register of voters will be displayed for public scrutiny from 9 to 16 October 2026, not later than 90 days before the election.
The first phase of the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) at all local government centres would commence on 9 October 2026.
